Brother Yero, I was sitting here listening to your notes and I couldn't help but be a bit perplexed. I will share with you why I was none the wiser after reading you:
I will share with you your last paragraph -
[Thanks
again for the great points. Without being difficult, I recognize the
damage done to our citizens by Jammeh and his accomplices. That makes it
quite hard especially after full knowledge of the regime's "terror" on
citizens, to join in the name of changing the game. I know they will
never change any game and what we have seen is the game being changed on
them, and 99.99% of the time, some of those people became the first
casualities.] Yero.
So if Yahya killed my brother, or assassinated my cousin, or maimed my friend, or caused the death of my fellow citizen while he/she was wrongfully imprisoned, do you suggest that I will be so defeated and broken that I will join Yahya's murder Inc. just to save my own skin????? Even with forewarning that I would suffer the same fate as my fellow citizens did sooner or later if I join Yahya's murder Inc.? Please help me understand your notes a bit more because I don't think I understood it properly.
Regarding standards and circumstance you expressed some fear;
[With
regards to the standards giving you sleepless nights,it shouldn't. We
are all stressing standards to be exercised. I think the problem has
been who sets which standards for who. Like you stated before, our
sympathy if any is clearly born out of Gambia's lawless sphere. No one
as far as I am concerned is saying people must not be held accountable
for wrongs they committed.I hold that standards are foremost but such
standards must niether be selective nor geared on alienating a certain
group.] Yero.
In our common struggle against lawlessness Yero (Law is a standard), our side of the battle does not have a discernible authority to set law. Therefore we must go by the standards, the absence of which caused the lawlessness we are fighting against. For example - to abduct someone or set their place of business on fire are crimes. To know who committed the crime and not share it with your fellow citizens and a reliable court, is also a crime. To enable the commission of either of these crimes is also a crime called aiding and abetting. Our standards therefore, set by no one of us but adopted by all of us as guide in our common fight against lawlessness are:
We will not abduct. We will not set fire to the properties of our fellows. We will EXPOSE those criminals we are aware of even if they blend among us in our fight or even if they are family members of ours. We will not work with or aid abet these criminal UNTIL they are prosecuted for their crimes and have asked for forgiveness or paid restitution to their victims. Adhering to these fundamental standards (set by no one of us because that is not necessary) means that each of us not only has to pay lipservice to them, we must live them every second of every minute of every hour of every day, week, month, and year. I see you used COMMITTED in the past tense so you are suggesting that the criminal has been prosecuted, has repented, has paid restitution to his/her victims, and has never committed the, or any more crimes. Now I want you to think about the TURNCOATS in our common fight. They continue to commit crimes, to obstruct justice, and to aid and abet other criminals. When we excuse these criminals, what we are doing is acting as their jurors and assuming fraudulent agency for their victims. We cannot hold them accountable for their crimes until they are adjudged by a competent court and jury of their fellows. All we can do is to live our standards as we fight lawlessness or the absence of standards. Standards, by their very nature, are aimed at alienating vagabonds and errant fellows. So to the extent you consider these groups of our fellow honorable citizens, standards are aimed at alienating these groups. You must be certain of that and resolute enough in your fight, to alienate and join in the prosecution of them before you begin the fight against them. Adhering to your standards. The guard against lawlessness.
On unity and reconciliation, Yero you expressed some concern as to how we can attain those:
[My
worry continues to loom over how unity can be achieved which requires
strategy. Further, my worry looms over how everyone will be treated
fairly. In doing this struggle to rescue Gambia and Gambians from
Jammeh's impunity, we the people must neither be bullies/oppressors
ourselves nor lose sight of what it means to encourage those that
committed wrongs to rehabilitate, join to expose the regime and be ready
to submit to justice whenever it calls. The door to welcome anyone
willing to leave the dictator to join us must be left wide open, of
course with greater caution. To my surprise, most of the time, such a
message is misconstued to interpret something else. Moreover, you will
agree some of the intolerant tendencies that surface online here and
there shows that while we seek to replace Jammeh's impunity, there is
still a greater fear that true liberation is not that close. We the
people must act better than the rotten system we seek to replace.] Yero.
Yero, I think you're putting the cart before the horse here. Remember you're still in the battle. You risk losing your life if you should pause in the middle of putting up your shield to stop a spear, to work on the dividends of victory. Further, there no greater strategy required to achieve unity and reconciliation than honesty, sincerity, consideration, and prosecution of crimes. Before and after the battle. While in battle, you treat the foe fairly by exacting consistent lethal damage on them, and out of battle, you maintain the same standards you set for yourself and that urged you to battle in the first place. Treating folk fairly in times of peace means that you allow them their Human rights to free speech, choice, and association for religion and industry. That is what you went into battle to resurrect. The opposite of lawlessness. International standards and norms for relationships among men and women. I like your wise counsel in purple, but I think you're conflating an avowed and unrepentant criminal with your fellow errant and clueless citizen. The latter can be rehabilitated without battle. But you're in battle for the rehabilitation of the pathological criminal, so he/she will be readied to submit to justice AFTER YOU ARREST HIM/HER. When you have defeated him/her in battle because by the very act of going to battle with you, the criminal is convinced you're the criminal, and he wouldn't be taken alive by someone who in his warped mind, is a bully and an oppressor of criminals. (: The door of reconciliation that you suggest we keep wide open, let us hurry up and salvage the door from the avowed and unrepentant criminal first, then we, your fellow citizens, will help you keep it wide open for the errant and clueless citizen. Yero, there will always be a fear among men and women of the resurgens of criminals. That is exactly why you, JDAM, Demba, Olfactor, Giuseppe, and myself are in battle currently. When the defeated criminals or newer criminals resurface later, you must have the resolution to join with your fellow conscientious citizens to do battle again. That resolution comes from us living our standards each second, of every minute, of every hour, of each day, week, month, and year. You can never stop the resurgens of criminals, but if they are more resolute than you are in adhering to your standards, why you'd be fighting a lot of battles and according the law of averages, you risk being consumed by your own shortcoming in resolutions.
When you are in battle, it is not necessary to let other determine what route you should take. That may be hazardous to your health and safety. Decide upon a route, stick to it, and fight battle for it. Hope that your fellow does the same. Cumulative Infinitesimal Worth (CIW) is the Achiles heel of all battle. That is what won battles for Jesus, Musa, Omar Ibn Hattab, Ghandiji, Obama, and the multitudes who came before us. I am convinced Yero that you are sometimes your own worst enemy by constantly second-guessing your own strategy while in the midst of battle. Don't scare me to fight next to you in battle my friend.
Haruna.